


California

by fits_in_frames



Series: Poses [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-09-25
Updated: 2005-09-25
Packaged: 2018-01-21 23:35:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1568018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fits_in_frames/pseuds/fits_in_frames
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She likes to smoke while she watches the sunset from the hill overlooking the Forbidden Forest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	California

**Author's Note:**

> _there's a moment_  
>  _i've been saving_  
>  {rufus wainwright // california}  
> 

She likes to smoke while she watches the sunset from the hill overlooking the Forbidden Forest. She likes how the ominous orange glow of the disappearing sun backdrops the patterns of smoke issuing forth from her mouth and nose. Sometimes she turns them into shapes--last week she made a butterfly--but usually they stay in straight streams. She knows she'll have to quit soon, because James doesn't like it. Says he heard somewhere that it interferes with your sex life. She thinks it's bullshit, but she likes him enough to acquiesce.

She sits with one knee up, her arm carefully balanced on it. Behind her, someone says, "Shouldn't you be off taking away House points and scolding First Years?"

Without turning to look, she replies, "James can do that."

Sirius plops down next to her. She passes him the cigarette. She still doesn't look at him.

"I bet you think he can do _everything_ ," he says and takes a drag. Then, pitching his voice up two octaves: "'Oh James! You're so strong and brave! Protect me from the--'"

"Shove it, Sirius." She sucks the life out of the cigarette and squashes it in the grass. She exhales and forms two interlocking rings with the smoke. She resents the sky, which is now lovely shades of pink and orange with a faint tinge of purple, because it changes from moment to moment. She'll be the same witch-girl-woman creature until she's 85 years old and has more grandchildren than she can count on her fingers and toes, and Sirius Black will probably _still_ make her feel uncomfortable.

She crosses her legs and begins to make patterns with blades of grass. She used to weave with her mother on rainy afternoons, when Dad would occupy Petunia. She thinks that when she has a daughter, she'll teach her to weave.

"What are you going to do next year, Evans?" Sirius tugs at the flask in his back pocket. He takes a swig, then offers it to her. She takes it, runs it under her nose a few times. Vodka. She should tell someone or do something, but she doesn't care. She drinks a mouthful, coughs twice, and hands it back to him.

"I don't know." It's not really true. She wants to be a teacher--like McGonagall, only without the changing-into-a-cat bit. James had talked about getting a place in London for a while, then eloping and running away to Egypt. Either that or get married properly and get a nice house on the shore. She hasn't given him an answer yet. "You?"

"I was thinking about maybe going to the States and becoming a movie star," he says coolly. She raises an eyebrow at him, and he grins hugely.

"Why do you have to go to the States to become a movie star?" She has learned, in the six and a half years that she has known him, that it is not wise to debate his choices, but rather inquire as much as you possibly can without requiring him to divulge some bizarre personal ancedote. It is a very fine line, but she has mastered it.

"Well, they all seem to have to live in California for a while before they get noticed. I just need to fit in with the Muggles, and I'll be all set."

She snorts involuntarily and abandons the grass in front of her, looking up at him. He is smirking at her. _Because I am that attractive and you know it_.

"I am not going to kiss you, Sirius."

"Who said I wanted you to?" But he still has that damn smirk on his face.

The spring air is suddenly chilly, and the sun is almost gone. He pouts falsely at her. It's the same pout from Third Year, when she actually _did_ kiss him, even if it was only to make James jealous. _Things are so different now_ , she thinks. She stands up, smoothes out her skirt. "Well, I have to go scold some First Years. Or something."

She doesn't wait for his reaction. After a few paces, she remembers there is a half-empty pack of cigarettes in her jacket pocket, and almost goes back to give them to him. She glances at the castle, at the sky, and decides not to.


End file.
